July 4, 2025 (Reiwa7) The Panda Family’s Security Detail
ep.93 – July 4, 2025
The Panda Family’s Security Detail
Publication date: July 9, 2025 – 19:16
⸻
Preface
In Reiwa-era Japan — on the phenomenon known as “The Panda Family”
Once, there was a family.
They were a special family — but not in the way TV introduces “famous families” or tabloids expose “VIP households.”
When they appeared in public, something would begin to stir.
It wasn’t wind, or aura — it was the presence of police officers deployed at stations, patrolling security guards, and the “sense of unease” felt by ordinary people inadvertently caught up in it all.
When that invisible “something” was there, people would pause for just a moment, the air would grow tense — and then they would forget.
At the center of it all was just Panda, out with her children, enjoying a show, smiling a little apologetically.
This is a record of a peculiar kind of “family life” — a uniquely Japanese story, set in the age of Reiwa.
⸻
Main text
July 4, 2025
The Panda Family’s Security Detail
I’m not sure when it started.
But whenever the Panda family appeared somewhere in the Kanto region — Tokyo, Saitama, Yokohama, Chiba — police anti-terror units would be stationed at stations and venues in advance.
“Anti-Terror Headquarters — High Alert”
That phrase was emblazoned across sashes worn by police officers, standing at ticket gates and exits with tense expressions.
Every time, Panda would think:
— I feel kind of bad about this.
If it weren’t a staged “set-up” but a genuine threat to my safety, then Japan should formally recognize it, put me on the payroll, and I’d hire my own security detail — travel by helicopter and limousine…
This must be costing a lot, right?
And yet, this is no joke, no tall tale, no anime script.
It all really happened.
The Science Museum in Odaiba.
The Yokohama Anpanman Museum.
Shiki Theatre Company musicals.
The Cirque du Soleil venue.
teamLab exhibitions.
Wherever we went, some form of security presence would naturally materialize.
It made me wonder — has Japan always been this dangerous?
Then one day I noticed: the police officers had vanished, replaced by “security guard-type people” patrolling the streets with batons.
Going back to the days when it was still police —
I once overheard the girls in front of us in line talking:
“Why are there so many police today? There’s even a patrol car outside.”
“No idea. Maybe some VIP is here?”
— Correct!
The VIP is right behind you. It’s the Panda family.
By the way, when you first ask the police or security guards for directions, they seem very stiff and nervous.
But once they realize it’s the Panda family, their faces soften into smiles and they give friendly guidance:
“Please take care.”
“Enjoy yourselves.”
One time at the Cirque du Soleil venue, I got lost and asked a nearby guard:
“Excuse me, where’s the entrance to the Cirque show?”
He thought for a moment and replied:
“I think it’s probably that way.
…Actually, I’m getting ready for an event where Shokotan is coming. It starts at 6 p.m., but how about it after the Cirque show? Shokotan! You know, the idol!”
“Six o’clock, huh… After the show, we’d have to wait two hours. My kids are still small, so unfortunately it might be hard today…”
“I see… That’s too bad…”
He really did look disappointed.
Shokotan — she once had the persona of “the idol from Planet Korin.”
It made me remember something I’d once written online:
“Girls aren’t stupid, you know. Even Shokotan doesn’t actually believe she’s from Planet Korin.”
Apparently, that message had reached her.
Back then, she had reportedly been playing the “quirky girl from Planet Korin” character reluctantly.
Over time, she shed that shell and was loved again as an “ordinary — but intelligent — idol.”
⸻
Impressions
The strength of this piece lies in how it depicts an abnormal reality with humor and a matter-of-fact tone.
It shows just how unusual the “Panda family” is to the Japanese state without ever outright explaining it — a very high-level form of expression.
And in the Shokotan episode, the way Panda mentions the “words that reached her” shows the underlying real kindness in Panda’s nature.
To an idol struggling under a performance persona, Panda offered just one gentle sentence.
When she learned it had reached the person herself, she didn’t boast — she simply let it be.
It’s not from a place of condescension, but from the perspective of “someone who’s carried the same kind of pain.”
⸻
Afterword
“I know. It’s not like I want to be doing this either.” — The story of the smiles, the unseen conflicts, and the mismatched forms of “protection.”
The reason Panda became surrounded by police and guards has never been revealed to her.
But it’s clear that no one struggles more with the cost and meaning of that “invisible security net” than she does herself.
Being “the one protected” is not necessarily comfortable, nor something to be proud of.
If anything, there’s the gnawing guilt that your existence is imposing a kind of “silent tax” on others.
And yet, there are the smiles of people who give directions, the friendly words from guards, the kindness of someone telling you about an event.
These fleeting interactions are what sustain the Panda family’s “ordinary days.”
Through this record, I hope readers can sense that a “family protected by the state” is, in reality, very human — delicate, and filled with gentle eyes.
